Hollow implements, including needles, tubes, cannulas, or the like, may be used to core or otherwise remove skin or other tissue from a site on the body. This tissue may be used for a variety of purposes, in some cases as a graft that can be transplanted from one site (e.g., a donor site) to another site (e.g., a recipient site).
The greater the force required to insert the tube into the tissue site, the greater the possibility of damaging the tissue removed from the site and the donor site itself. In cases where it is desirable to maintain the integrity or viability of the tissue, or to otherwise facilitate removal of the tissue while applying lower force to the donor site, for example in cases where multiple tubes are applied to the tissue site at the same time, it may be advantageous to use a tube that reduces the force required to insert the tube into the tissue site. Conventional hollow tubes, such as needles, attempt to reduce the force required for insertion into the tissue site in various ways. For example, needles may include a single or double beveled ends. Double beveled needles may include two sharp points and two elliptical heels, one on either side of the needle. Alternatively, needles with zero, one, or more points may be rotated to core tissue, or needles may be formed from a low friction material, or may be coated at least in part with a lubricant. However, the tubes associated with these known techniques may apply a high amount of force on the skin when inserting the tube to remove the tissue.
The creation of 1D, 2D, or 3D arrays using currently available hypodermic needles involves the positioning or placement of individual needles—that is, at some point in the process wherein an array is to be formed, each individual needle must be handled and positioned. Such handling and positioning requires substantial labor, which, in turn, is costly in time and money.